THE NEW YORKER
glish and concluded, "Mrs. Thomas is
our saint come marching in. Thank
you. "
W HENEVER I asked Paran,
from the boys' side of the class-
room, "What are you doing, Paran?"
she would say, "I'm looking into my
mirror."
"What do you see in a mirror?"
"My reflection."
"What is that?"
"It's my double."
"But how can it be your double?
The mirror is thin and flat."
"You have to be able to see to un-
derstand. "
I could not work out the puzzle of
Paran and the mirror until some time
after Abdul and I stumbled onto a
heavy stone slab in the cellar. We
moved it and discovered that under it
was a big, sloping hole. We got down
into the hole. I was frightened and
wanted to run back, because the tun-
nel-for that was what it seemed to
be-was knee-deep in water, and I
could hear things splashing and swim-
ming, scuttling and buzzing. The lit-
tle noises were picked up and repeated
al1 around me, until it seemed that
the whole tunnel was full of ghosts,
snakes, and wasps.
"I'm getting out of here!" I
shouted.
"I'm getting out of here!" they
shouted back.
Abdul and I almost fell over each
other getting out of the tunnel.
We put the stone back over the hole
and didn't go near it for a few days.
But one day I told Deoji about the
tunnel.
"That's an old, unused sewer," he
said. "I don't know what things were
swimming down there. But the sound
you heard was an echo."
"What is an echo?"
"It's when your voice bounces back
from the walls and the ceiling,"
"Why doesn't it do that every-
where?"
"You have to be in a tight corner or
the voice will escape."
After that, I would often go down
to the slab of stone, move it a chink,
and shout, "Hello, there!" As I lis-
tened to the echo, I felt that, like
Paran, I was looking into a mirror.
O NE afternoon, Mr. Ras Mohun
took those of us boys who were
totally blind behind the school build-
ing, past Abdul's boa-constrictor tree,
to a little vacant area by the wall of the
T ata Mill. Here he let us feel four
139
'"
Joanne Woodward gets
personal on UNICEF
personalized stationery.
You (an too.
rrþ- l'
.... ...,.
............
--,_...
"........""---"'...,..,
---...."._-
o
i/II';
161CF \Vult 'Ilurm
"'--"'-
TT -
\ I -
L -.h'
=
-:
>'
&"-"'"
...-:::-"fi
160CF Japanese ßird
Emblem/whitl:' '-per
forest green i ,prim
-
159CF] 1 Century
"':hinece
lor woodcut/ivory paper,
anh-br
'11 imprint
'--....
-....
o
..eEe -E
'Ú<.-
J'2-7v
oed!.. ;fa
,,,::> og (./4//CéF '
"<4{
Uu..t -f:t -o{ecft
-a . '- -
. ""ð
l.J. .ü , LJ,,,,^^
o
-
_ -r-'
",.:l(.
.o-(
)..
_. ð(j (
N I C(' ('
u 1fo"YI:t<v "
t..... -Ca:
_ . '^
/// C I"'<-õå<<>-"""
<>'
&
L --fA
f..,
Cl
12->>..- ..ð....
.
.
'4
(t.
" ,.
,.
9- 0 a--....._
UNICEF stationery says nice
things about you before you ever
write a word. And a box of per-
sonalized UNICEF writing paper
makes an impressive, truly personal
gift, for only $15.
If you send the coupon today,
you'll have your own elegant, im-
pressive stationery within four
weeks. In plenty of time for Christ-
mas gifts.
Contents: 25 imprinted sheets, 10
blank sheets, 25 imprinted en-
velopes. Price: $15.00. Money re-
funded if not completely satisfied.
F
ousUN1CEFsmtlonery.
A beautiful way to help
a billion children.
I
I
I
I
I
I
City State Zip I
o MasterCard 0 Visa 0 Personal Check (Please. no cash or stamps.) :
Signalure I
Acct # (Required for Cretin Card pun:ha...e....)
NOTE, Plea,e enclose on a ,eperate ,heet name(,) anù aùùre,,(es)printed exactly a, they I I
should appe-J.r on
t3(ìonery and envelope, m3..,'{imum 1 line on
tationef)', 3 on envt'lope.
!\Llximum 40 character:-- per line, including :--pace
. Identify each name v/ith code# of de
ign chosen. NY I
-------------------------------------
U.S. COMMITTEE FOR UNICEF
331 East 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
Add $2 for postage
and handling.
($15.00 per box,)
# of boxes
Name
Address